The Anticancer Diet Cheatsheet

If you’re anything like me, you forget the important details from books too quickly. I always need the cliff notes and will occasionally share things on topics like health and nutrition when it feels like a summary is valuable.

I read Anticancer: A New Way of Life, by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, after seeing people close to me battle cancer. The book includes the science and specifics about how and why certain ingredients work to fight the disease, as well as much more detailed analysis of what can be done for each type of cancer.

The logic seems sound: For those of us lucky enough to not have cancer, now’s the time to start shifting our nutritional habits to keep it that way. Or if we’ve had it, or are currently battling it, Dr. Servan-Schreiber proposes some ways to give it your best fight.

A few of the key nutritional tips:

Japanese Green Tea: Steep for 5-10 min; 2-3 cups per day; do not store for more than 1-2 hours

Pomegranate Juice: slows spread of prostate cancer; one small glass with breakfast

Red Wine: no more than one glass / day; pinot noir is high in the antioxidant resveratrol

Dark chocolate: more than 70% cocoa; 20 grams / ⅕ a bar daily; avoid milk chocolate; eat at the end of the meal in place of dessert (with green tea)

Vitamin D3: talk to doctor first to see if you need it; prevents colds, flu and helps with mental outlook in dark months; daily intake of 1,000-5,000 IUs or a single dose of 100,000 IUs twice a month; can be toxic and cause kidney stones if too much

Omega-3s: best in small fish (whole anchovies, small mackerel, and sardines in olive oil); salmon also good; avoid frozen fish and tuna, dogfish, shark and swordfish; can also get through flaxseeds – best to grind in a coffee grinder and mix with soy milk or yogurt or cereal or salad; can use flaxseed oil but not as good; store in refrigerator in airtight lightproof contain and replace after 3 months

Probiotics: found in organic yogurts (especially greek), sauerkraut, and kimchi; most common are lactobacillus acidophilus and lactobacillus bifidus

Foods rich in selenium: vegetables and cereals grown organically; also in fish and shellfish, and giblets and offal

What to skip

Foods with high glycemic index (white flour, sugar, etc)

Soda, beer, juice, alcohol (anything sweetened)

Hydrogenated oils; sunflower, soy and corn oil

Conventional dairy products

Fried foods, chips, fried appetizers

Non-organic red meat and eggs (no more than 7 ounces of red meat per week)

Poultry skin

Skins of non-organic fruits and vegetables

Tap water in areas of a lot of farming; filter with carbon filter or reverse osmosis

Tips

Boiling and baking on low heat is better than frying / grilling on high heat